The Revolution
by Suekeiichi Kaiton
Summary: Now with no smut! Ch 10 & 11 archived at MediaMiner due to explicit content. Ch 12 up. RanmaUtena crossover. Please R&R.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Mystery crossover. Ranma and the other series (you'll find out what it is in the next chapter) both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Prologue

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

It was always dead in the middle of the day. People were at work or school or cleaning house and so were not aimlessly wandering around in a mall and certainly not browsing the frilly black dresses and leather bondage wear in a gothic Lolita shop. The thin girl behind the counter leaned over the thick glass panes of the display case and sighed into her hand. Beside the skull rings and talon finger coverings below her elbow were the skull-and-crossbones belt buckles, beside those a selection of Grateful Dead illustration temporary tattoos. The tall pink-haired girl perched precariously on a black stool and waited impatiently for something to happen.

She'd been working in the store for a year but still wasn't used to the mid-afternoon lull, but then again for a normal boutique a lull would be one or two customers instead of twenty, for Dark Designs the usual pair sank down to nil. And so she waited while American horror rock blared on the speaker system and Ozzy, Gene, Alice, and Rob started down from the t-shirt wall. Frankly she had things to do but hadn't the urge to do much of anything save muse on how bored she was waiting.

The girl wore a tight mauve and black striped long-sleeved turtleneck and black jeans. Her hair was a shockingly dyed pink cropped close to the nape with pointy bangs. Her eyes were cerulean orbs floating in shadow as she watched the door. Creeps and freaks were the norm but sometimes, just sometimes, average people with strange tastes walked in, they were few and far between but they did shop and sometimes flirt. She didn't appreciate it when fat hairy men with long hair, smelling of BO and grease tried to pick her up, or when overweight or just downright ugly or rude lesbians came in and tried to accost her in the changing rooms. She just wasn't interested. She already had a boyfriend and wasn't looking for anything more than the occasional bump-and-grind routine every few nights, maybe some oral for variety; she didn't want commitment, just sex. It was a testament to this philosophy that she didn't live with her boyfriend of nearly a year. Instead she lived in a crappy one-room apartment above an Indian restaurant down the street from the mall when she could have moved into his larger house in a quieter district.

She'd stayed many nights at his house but never broached the subject of moving in together or advancing their relationship beyond the almost casual-sex agreement between them. He was nice, caring, passionate, but she wasn't looking for commitment. She really wasn't looking for a job either but necessity demanded she pay her rent and eat so she took a low-level job in a dead-end store. She didn't really want to live, just exist; that was enough for now. The manager was out again but trusted her enough to leave the keys to lock up at closing, it wasn't like there was much money in the till to steal or anything she'd want to wear in the store. The girl wore black eyeliner and no lipstick, a black lace thong but no bra; if anyone wanted to ogle her they could feel free. She frankly didn't care.

Across town, Ranma Saotome looked up from the puddle of drool spread across the table in front of him only to find the entire lecture hall empty, the professor wiping clean the blackboard. The professor made no move to chastise him or punish him for sleeping through his lecture, he wasn't in high school anymore, but Ranma still felt chagrined to know that he'd drooled all over the desk. Collecting his notebook and bag from beside the chair, he sped out the door and through the sunlit halls of the cram school. Due to extenuating circumstances, i.e. the Tendo Situation as his mother termed it, he'd failed all his entrance exams his senior year in high school and studied part time ronin while working at a dojo down the street from his house. If his mother felt shame that he was ronin she didn't show it, for which he was very glad. Still, at least he didn't have to listen to her bitch and moan about being manly since he started dating. True, The Tendo Situation made romance complicated for the pigtailed martial artist but with his mother's help he'd avoided the bigger problems associated with cheating on no less than two fiancées.

The only girls with claims on his honor any longer were Shampoo and Akane, Ukyo having been adopted, and Kodachi committed. Shampoo was, according to Amazon law, already married to him, which did complicate matters since he hadn't consummated their vows, but after the Saffron incident Cologne was smart enough to keep her away from his business. As lawful as her claim was she hadn't pushed it in over a year. The Tendos on the other hand were on the phone day and night demanding that he return and marry Akane, despite the fact that Akane had no desire to marry him and he had no desire to marry her. Hell, she was already fucking Shinnosuke just before he left and Nabiki knew better than to bug him at home. However benign the fiancée situation had become in the year, the weight of honor pressed down on him. Going out drinking with Hiroshi and Daisuke and screwing around with his girlfriend seemed the only release he ever got between school and work.

It was funny he thought that only a little over a year ago the idea of fucking a girl wouldn't caused him to pass out but now he did all kinds of kinky things without batting an eyelash. He supposed that his mother had something to do with it since her long and embarrassing lectures on sex and women when he moved in began the slow desensitization process. How he'd hooked up with a weird girl like Ena still seemed strange considering where she worked, he still couldn't remember exactly what he'd been doing in Dark Designs. Still, he had met her and they were a couple…sort of…she still didn't want to stay more than a night at the house and showed little interest in anything other than eating, sleeping, working, and fucking. She was a strange one, a bit cool, definitely had some significant baggage in her past given the scars on her body. Had she been beaten in childhood? It probably wasn't since her emotional scars didn't seem bitter and old but rather raw and fresh. A boyfriend perhaps? That was a distinct possibility given the type of character a store like Dark Designs catered to, hell, it could have been a lesbian for all he knew.

He stopped off at a take-out beef bowl and bought two with four eggs and several cans of tea. Carefully laying the food in his backpack he bought a single rose from a street vendor and made his way towards the mall. It seemed unnaturally busy for a Thursday afternoon, there were a lot of high school couples walking hand-in-hand down the boulevard window shopping or eating in the many cafes. Ranma couldn't quite put his finger on what seemed so off, almost like the ground was moving under his feet even though he knew it couldn't possibly be moving fast enough to produce the subtle vertigo effect. He hid the wrapped rose in the back of his waistband and strolled down past the fountain into the open-air mall. Dark Designs stood in a short little alley off the beaten path between a piercing palace and an arcade.

Ena was still leaning over the counter when he entered and paid him no attention until he was standing in front of her. Recognition lit behind her eyes and she blinked into focus, noting the strange way he was standing. She sniffed the air and knew he'd brought lunch. Motioning for the new girl, Sara, to watch the counter while she took lunch, the couple ducked into the backroom and cleared a sewing table. Ai, the owner, made all the clothes and alterations herself in back, so fabric and thread scraps were strewn all about.

Ranma pulled out their lunch and dropped the knapsack beside his stool, setting the rose down on top. Ena hadn't noticed, too intent on mixing her egg. The two didn't say much of anything, there was very little to talk about and they rarely had long conversations but this was not to say they were distant with one another, rather they had the ability to sense the other's mood and respond without words. Sometimes it felt they held entire conversations through touch and proximity, conversations so deep that Ranma serious wondered if he imagined their bond. He watched her eat the ribs and suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his heart, as if he'd lost her even though she sat right before him. He really wanted her to move in with him and get out of the stinking hellhole her apartment was, it was part of the reason they always went to his place. She really spend more time at his house than her own but she didn't want to acknowledge the depth of her relationship with him and so rejected any discussion of moving into the house.

They ate for the next twenty minutes, saying nothing but speaking volumes through a touch, a breath, a glance; once they finished Ranma brushed back her bangs and cradled the hinge of her jaw. With the other hand he plucked the rose from the floor and presented it to her with a smile. He didn't miss her wince or the way her jaw clenched when the red rose came up, she always seemed to have the same reaction – was she that against having a meaningful relationship? He knew that their interaction was the first true relationship he'd had with a woman in an intimate manner, he felt more comfortable in her presence than in his mother's and could overlook any of her faults. Even her scars, he'd never asked about them, simply let them be like an elephant in the room until she was ready to tell him who had cut her up so badly. He hoped that someday he could give her a rose and not have her flinch.

"You shouldn't have." Her voice was light and high, girlish despite her appearance, and it was not so unbelievable that she was only seventeen.

Ranma smiled and pressed the wrapped stem into her hand. "But I did."

"I don't have anywhere to put it, it'll just die. Why don't you take it home with you?"

"It won't die, just put it in a cup of water. This is for you, I know it's cheap but I want you to have it."

Ena turned away and got up off her stool. "I have to get back. I'll see you tonight." She pressed the rose back into his hands.

Ranma shook his head, cleaned up the mess, and walked out without so much as a goodbye kiss from his girlfriend.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Mystery crossover. Ranma and the other series (you'll find out what it is in the next chapter) both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Chapter One

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

He arrived home at three to an empty house; his mother was out at work until five, threw the rose into the trash in the kitchen and made a pot of tea. Nodoka tended to enjoy the western teas so he made orange pekoe just in case she wanted a cup when she came home. The house was silent and dark as he went up to his room, it wasn't quite April yet so the weather was still cold, which seemed to permeate the house with chill drafts and icy spots. His room was at the end of the upstairs hall on the other end of the house from Nodoka's separated by two guest rooms and a study on one side and the toilet and stairs on the other. The room was dark with the drapes closed.

He set the tray down on his desk and opened the dark red curtains back to let in the falling sunlight from the city. His futon was rolled up in the closet and the only decoration his room held was a single abstract painting of a white barge moving against black waves. He'd asked his mother about the painting but she never gave him any definitive answer, just smiled and said something about painting it during her high school years. Anyway, he had to get down to studying if he wanted to be accepted anywhere before the next school year. He had his eyes set low, small technical schools at his mother's behest, and exclusive universities with physical education programs, he knew his grades weren't up to snuff and certainly knew he wasn't suited for a boring sedate job behind a desk. Genma, who now lived somewhere in Hokkaido suggested joining the police force, although Ranma thought that was just so his father's criminal record could somehow disappear. The academy seemed like a good idea for a little while but it, like so many of his other dreams faded over time. Now he just wanted to open a dojo and be done with it, he still needed some business classes under his belt to manage his own dojo but he was sure they'd be no problem.

It wasn't that he was stupid, far from it; it was just that he lacked understanding of certain key concepts concerning the outside world. A problem stemming from his harsh childhood and Genma's chauvinistic teachings, thankfully a year with his mother reversed all but the worst damage – he was still afraid of cats, though…

Switching on the light and sitting down at the desk he started reading through the chemistry book, trying to catch-up on the lecture he'd slept through. He didn't think of Ena or her odd behavior, nor did he look at the pile of her dirty clothing in the far corner of his room. Even though she didn't want a commitment she kept a lot of her clothing at his house, came over every day, and slept in his room most nights. She refused to visit his house when she was on her period, so during those few days he visited her at her curry-stinking apartment where the walls were so thin you could hear the fat otaku next door jerking off to "Ichigo Mashimaro".

Roughly an hour later he heard the door close downstairs and Nodoka popped her head into the room. She was dressed in a deep burgundy business suit with a slit up her skirt hitting the rounded bulge of her hip. Her hair was twisted into an attractive bun with a few strands falling beside her ears; she wore dark red lipstick, and a hint of blush. He supposed her was still attractive but couldn't really give a good opinion considering she was his mother.

She worked at an advertising firm in town specializing in travel. He really didn't know her actual position but it was high considering she often entertained clients at home and was constantly on the phone with one intern or another about fonts and images, and typesetting. At first he thought, sick as it was, that she was whoring herself out in order to ink deals but a few months later he dismissed it as a figment of his imagination. Really, his mother wasn't desperate enough to debase herself sexually.

Despite his vehement denials of her sexual behavior, he failed to notice the lipstick on her collar or the scent of perfume that wasn't her own on her sleeves.

"You're home early, Ranma, I thought you had classes until four."

"The professor got sick so I was finished at two. I ate lunch with Ena, though; she'll be dropping by tonight."

"That's nice, dear, I brought a guest home with me won't you come down and say hello?" Nodoka unbuttoned her suit jacket and undid her bun.

Ranma nodded. "Sure, I'll be right down." Nodoka left. He crossed to the closet and pulled on a sweater. From the sound of it, his mother had water on the stove for tea. He couldn't hear the guest, which either meant they moved too silently for him to hear or they were sitting in the tearoom. It was probably the latter, at least he hoped. He's been able to sense presences for the past ten years, it wouldn't do to all of a sudden find a person immune to his ki feelers. Flicking his pigtail behind his back, Ranma walked to the stairs and looked down into the tearoom. Sure enough there was a shadow of someone on the couch.

He passed the closed door and entered the kitchen to prepare the tea when he heard the whistle slow before falling silent. Brushing aside the short curtain he saw the guest setting the kettle on an unlit burner.

The woman, a girl really, had deep purple hair tied in a tight ponytail at the nape of her neck. The hair fell perfectly straight down to the small of her back. She was tanned, although not excessively so, and moved with an air of clumsiness Ranma always associated with those not trained in martial arts. Really, normal people had no grace compared to a Tai Chi master. Her eyes were deep brown with a hint of red? Maybe, he couldn't tell from across the room. Her thin, long hands tapped the loose tea leaves into his mother's good porcelain teapot and filled it with piping hot water, obviously used to performing such a task. Was she a new OL at the firm? Occasionally his mother brought home newbies to make they feel more at home in the office; after all, it was easier to talk to a superior if you considered them your friend.

The girl turned to him and graced him with a tentative smile, serene but glib, and set the kettle down.

"You must be Nodoka's son, Ranma, am I right?" He nodded. "I'm Shi, I just started at your mother's office today. Pleased to meet you, Nodoka has told me so much about you."

"Er…thanks." Ranma wondered what she was doing, sure his mother could have just wanted to make the newcomer relaxed but there seemed to be something else her words, as if she was saying something else but it was lost in translation. If he didn't know better, and know that Nodoka simply adored Ena, he'd have thought this a prospective marriage meeting. The girl was around his age, and seemed perfectly healthy, slender but not emaciated with a reasonable amount of muscle in her arms and calves. "I was just going to make the tea."

"No need, I've done this before. Do you take sugar?" She set the pot and three dainty cups on a tray.

"No, but my mother does." He reached up into a cabinet and took down a glass canister of sugar cubes, setting it beside the cups. "Do you take milk?"

Shi shook her head. "No, does your mother?"

"No." Ranma took the tray from the table and led the girl into the tearoom. "Excuse me for just a moment."

"Of course." She began pouring the tea.

He walked up the stairs unable to reason why the girl, Shi, was here and what his mother was planning. Nodoka's door was shut when he reached it so he knocked softly.

"Come in," came the reply from the other side. He walked in and waited while his mother finished tying her obi and tucked her kimono under her breasts. "What is it, Ranma-dear? Shi is waiting downstairs."

He decided to be blunt. "What is she doing here, Mom, why did you invite her to come here?"

"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma, you don't think I'm trying to set you two up, do you? I know how you feel about Ena, I would never interfere in your relationship." She tied her long red hair back with a white ribbon and brushed a bit of lint from her cheek. "Shi is just new at the office and I wanted to make her feel welcome."

He didn't believe her but couldn't do much considering she was his mother. He nodded and walked with her back downstairs. After giving Shi a brief farewell he allowed the two their privacy and returned to his reading. As he sat at his desk with the lights turned on against the gathering dark, two small eyes peered in through his window.

At five, Shi left the house and Nodoka began preparing dinner. Shi walked about a block away from the Saotome home before leaning against a concrete retaining wall. It had taken a lot out of her to continue the charade but it'd paid off, she knew Ranma was the one now, could smell it all over him like the faint scent of soil and flowers after a spring rain. He was the only one she'd ever found and she didn't plan to let him escape, no, he would lead her to the treasure she sought for so long. Gathering herself once again, the girl known as Shi strode into the night.

Back at the Saotome homestead, Ranma was just finishing his chemistry problems when the doorbell rang. Slapping the paperback text closed, he walked downstairs and opened the door to find Ena standing silently in the dark. He looked straight into her eyes. She broke the gaze and pushed by him into the hall, removing her thigh-high leather lace-up boots in the foyer. Ranma simply started after her but it was too late, she'd already made it into the kitchen and he knew better than to interrupt his mother's information pumping sessions. His cause lost for the time being, he shut the door and sat down in the tearoom. He felt like something had changed, something intangible that he couldn't see, much less fight.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Mystery crossover. Ranma and the other series (you'll find out what it is in the next chapter) both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Chapter Two

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

Dawn broke over the district and Ranma shifted in his sleep. He didn't have any classes until four, although the one class was three-hours long, and so he enjoyed the odd sleep-in days when he could get them. On the road with Genma he'd woken a few hours before dawn to warm up and went to sleep well after midnight, so if possible he liked to wake up naturally. His partner gripped his torso tighter under the blankets, her back cold from a slight lift of the sheets. The massive amount of scarring on her body resembled veins stretching in a solid wave from her collarbone down to her knees and down to her wrists. She usually gave them little thought other than to perhaps try to hide them with clothing so as not to arouse suspicion or curiosity in her fellow men.

Ranma felt the hardened keloid tissue pressing against his back and woke up, feeling the stiff nubs of her nipples rubbing against his spine. He rolled over to face her and embrace her around the neck, pulling her closer to his warmth. He was wide awake now, though still a little sleep-blind, and noticed how their legs were entwined – her thighs gently squeezing his own – but felt only a ghost of desire sputter to life in his body. She'd worn him out before passing out herself, amazing as it was; her violent coupling bothered him. Normally she enjoyed gentle sex, easy but passionate with a few little kinks thrown in for variety; last night, however, she'd ridden him like a stallion and screamed so loud she had tears in her eyes. This morning, though, she was back to her normal sedate self.

He felt the press of urine in his bladder and reluctantly pulled away, flipping back the covers and sliding into a long robe. After using the toilet he returned and, without removing the robe, nestled back into bed next to her. She mumbled a bit when he pulled her close again and wrapped her arms around his torso. Ranma's fingertips idly traced the white scars running along her spine, pressing him experimentally to feel the hard nub at the centre of the raised, puckered section of flesh.

Down the hall, Nodoka finished twisting her hair into a bun and slid her reading glasses into her top pocket. She really looked good in a blue business suit with a skirt so short it made Hinako Ninomiya's yellow dress look like a hoop skirt. She eagerly anticipated Shi's appreciation in the locker room after work. Breaking out of her naughty thoughts, she smoothed out her clothes and strode downstairs to start making breakfast. Even if Ranma slept in, he rarely slept any later than ten.

She was proud of her son after his display yesterday, she was happy that he'd found someone he could truly devote himself to and even stand up to her for – although she didn't think he feared her, she certainly knew that her opinion meant a great deal in his reckoning of the world. Ena had certainly ridden her son hard last night; Nodoka had heard the dyed-pink girl's screams from the other end of the house. She worried about her son, about what he was going to be with his future, but at least she knew he had support from Ena.

She made a simple breakfast of omelets, miso soup, fried fish, and red rice. Ranma's appetite had no lessened since leaving Nerima and a significant percentage of her paycheck went to food. She knew that Ranma was ashamed that he was using her money to eat and used his paycheck from the dojo whenever he could but with such a ravenous stomach there was no way he'd be sated with eating small portions of fast food all the time. As a man he needed real, homemade food, which thankfully Ena seemed capable of making. The girl was not a wiz in the kitchen, yet, but she had a great aptitude for taste and timing, which was enough in Nodoka's mind.

Ena awoke to the scent of fish; delicious fish brushed with soy sauce, and came to her senses immediately. She looked up from Ranma's chest only to find him looking down at her with his heart-meltingly cerulean eyes. She felt a flutter somewhere in her chest but did not betray the comfort she felt in his arms. It was funny that it was only in the act of lovemaking that she truly lost herself; although it frankly wasn't surprising, and Ranma was the only man she'd ever shown that face to since her last…experience. He was really the only one who'd seen her scars and never asked about them, never poked or prodded them, never gawked at the extent to which they covered her body – instead, he had simply shrugged off her modesty and accepted her. She felt sure that he was the only man in the world who would ever discover the erogenous aspects of her scarring. She knew that others thought the raised lines repulsive but he kissed her all over, never caring if it was scar or smooth skin, nibbling her nipples and the lattice of scars all over her breasts.

"How long have you been staring at me?" She wiped a glob of sleep from the corner of her eye.

"A long time, I guess. I'm not really sure."

"Breakfast ready yet?"

Ranma turned towards the door and sure enough the muffled sound of Nodoka's voice drifted up from the kitchen. "It's ready now."

She pulled out of his embrace and reached for the pile of her clothes beside the futon, rifling in pant legs for her thong. "Tell your mom I'll be right down."

Ranma simply lay there with his head propped by a hand watching the hot pink curls of her public hair disappear behind the lace of her panties. Involuntarily he felt himself stiffen but no, there was no time for that now, he wanted real answers. "Ena…"

"What is it? Hurry up or else your mom will come in to see what's wrong."

"Why did you react that way when I gave you the flower yesterday?" He decided to be blunt. "I just wanted to give you something nice."

She turned to him and crawled over, rolling him onto his back and straddling his stomach. He started to protest before her cool finger brushed his lips. "I know that, really I do, it's just that I don't like…flowers. I'm sorry I just didn't really know what to do when you gave it to me. Sorry."

Ranma looked into her eyes and this time she did not flinch or look away, rather she opened them even wider and he thought they softened somewhat, as if she were trying to make it easier for him to look into her soul. He realized she was telling the truth, at least the way she understood it, and left it at that.

"I'm not sure I accept your apology," he said with a smirk, "you may just need to do something to show me you really mean it…"

She grinned, thankful that he understood her enough to know when to stop prodding her for answers, and lay down atop his body, her curves molding to his, in order to kiss him passionately on the lips. She slipped her tongue between his teeth and felt his awaken at the touch, soon they were dueling and moaning and she felt his manhood rise underneath the sheets-

"Ranma-dear? Are you awake?" A knock was heard which instantly dissolved the intimacy of the moment.

Ranma covered them with an errant blanket just in case his mother decided to barge in, and wiped loose saliva from his face. "Yeah, we'll be right down."

There was a pregnant pause on the other side of the door that Ranma knew was his mother debating whether to open the door and embarrass her son or to leave and give them their privacy; thankfully she left well enough alone and the couple heard Nodoka's padded slippers tapping down the stairs.

They rose and dressed quickly. Ena left to use the toilet while Ranma dressed and together they walked downstairs for breakfast. The three ate in silence, Nodoka too interested in seeing if Shi was a natural purple or if she dyed, Ranma worried about Ena, and Ena worried about Ranma. Nodoka left the table first, leaving the clean up to the younger folk. Ranma and Ena continued to polish off the last of the food for another ten minutes before rising and washing the dishes. It was eleven-thirty by the time everything was done. Ena left soon afterward, saying she needed a shower and change of clothes before showing up at work. Ranma saw her off, worrying at the strange electricity he felt in the air.

He returned to his room and threw away the scattered tissues, condoms, and condom wrappers spread across his floor. Tying all the trash in an opaque white plastic bag, he changed the sheets on the futon and rolled it up, stowing it in his closet before stripping for a bath. Leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor he strode out into the hall and took a towel from the linen closet, slinging it over a shoulder and heading downstairs to the bathroom.

The sky was darkening; clouds were spreading across the sun warning of rain and sleet in the near future. He turned on the space heater in the tearoom and shut the windows in the kitchen before stepping into the anteroom to the furo. Retrieving his bathing supplies from a shelf beside the washing machine and dryer he untied his pigtail before sliding open the furo door releasing a torrent of steam.

Ranma washed quickly and efficiently, wanting more than anything to stretch out and relax in the hot water for a while before turning his mind to the god-awful three-hour lecture/seminar later in the day. He wondered as shampoo suds sluiced over his body how Ena was doing? She was a big girl, she could take care of herself, or so he hoped. Now that he started the line of thinking he couldn't help but imagine her raped or beaten or killed by thugs on the street. Shaking his long hair free of water he banished the poisonous thoughts. It didn't help to think that way, he was sure she was perfectly safe and probably bored out of her mind at Dark Desires…Designs. Maybe the heat was getting to him…

Upending a bucket of ice cold water over his head he shivered as the transformation rippled its way down his body, muscles pulling and stretching into completely different shapes and configurations, before squeezing conditioner into her palms and running them through her hair, careful not to comb too hard unless she wanted to pull out any tangled hairs. Rinsing that out with the showerhead she lathered up her body with a towel and drenched herself again. The cold water was helping her thinking; the strange ideas were gone. She ran her hands over her body to wipe away any lingering droplets before stepping into the furo. The hot water burned his skin at first but he knew that was only because of the icy water before; he'd know if the water was truly scalding. Letting out a coo of pleasure, he leaned back and set a wet rag on his forehead.

Minutes, perhaps hours, passed before he came back to his senses, realizing that something was very wrong in the house. Stepping out and pulling the stopper, he dried himself haphazardly and draped the towel around his hips. There was definitely something off in the house, what it was he couldn't quite put his finger on but it was a threat. Stalking silently out of the bathroom he scanned the kitchen and hall…nothing. He decided to chance it and walked upstairs on alert to dress before traipsing around the house, if there was an intruder he didn't want to have to worry about his towel falling off. He failed to notice scurrying feet behind him.

He threw on a pair of slacks and a beige plaid button-down shirt. Peeking out his door he saw nothing and heard nothing that could possibly set off his danger senses. Whatever it was, it had to be downstairs…

Slipping his wristbands on and clasping the metal locks together with muted clicks of grooved metal, he slipped out into the hall and down the stairs. He'd checked the kitchen and the upstairs, which left only the tearoom. Looking through the paper door he saw a shadow sitting in front of the picture window overlooking the street. A flash of lightning illuminated the room for a moment and he saw the outline of long hair. A woman? Who was she and what could be possibly be doing sitting in his livingroom? He licked his lips, the situation wasn't good, obviously the intruder knew the layout of the house and how to get inside without breaking in – this implied familiarity. It wasn't a petty thief; they wouldn't sit around in the tearoom. Surprise, surprise was the only way to go about it, he'd have to bust in and scare the shit out of the intruder.

Steeling himself for anything, for all he knew the woman could have a gun, Ranma threw open the sliding door and leapt at the figure, grabbing her wrists before she could speak and pining her slim body to the cushions of the couch.

"Hmm? What the hell're you doing here?" He recognized the girl as none other than Shi from the previous day. From the stairs a pair of eyes widened at his threatening manner but did not act out of deference to Shi's reaction. Ranma released her wrists and sat up and off her, his knee sinking into the edge of the cushion. "Is my mom home too? I didn't hear either of you come in…jeez, you scared the shit out of me!"

Shi just sat back up and looked him straight in the eye. "Your mother isn't home, Ranma."

Worried, he looked around before scanning her body for any weapons. "So why're you here in the middle of the day?"

"I think we need to have a talk about your girlfriend, Ranma, and your future."


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Mystery crossover. Ranma and the other series (you'll find out what it is in the next chapter) both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Chapter Three

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

It started raining once she walked out of the train station, a heavy drenching rain, cold and sharp, that cut through her clothing and stun the skin. She'd neglected to bring an umbrella so she had little choice but to walk home in the rain. It really wasn't all that bad, inconvenient sure, but bad? No, it was just water…just water. Somehow, water always reminded her of death. Not the dark figure with a cloak and scythe, but the true face of random death: oblivion. The rain made her shirt cling to her skin, tracing the raised disks of her aureoles against the dark purple stripes of the fabric. She didn't care.

Passing vendors and stores she entered her apartment building through the back and walked up the rickety stairs to the second floor. The stairs were worn in the middle despite being made of metal, and creaked with her weight with a chorus of rusted bolts and loose screws. A smell of curry and chicken drifted up from the Indian restaurant below, filling the air with a thick stench that seemed visible in the dim flickering light of the hall. It was really smoke coming from the apartment next door but who was she to tell the guy his cigars were cheaper than a 100-yen hooker? It wasn't like she even spent that much time at the place anyway.

The lock stuck and she'd already lost three keys to the faulty tumbler so it was with extreme caution that she inserted her key and pressed gingerly against the pins. Luckily the lock turned and her metal door opened with the cry of the un-oiled. She ignored the rising pile of advertisements littering her foyer and unlaced her boots. It was noon and she was due in at one-thirty. Plenty of time to bathe and get dressed.

She stripped like one who was alone, without concern for modesty or where her clothes fell, just with a desire to be nude and in the furo. The place was a dump with empty cartons of takeout and scummy used condoms littering the floor from the last time she and Ranma had slept there. The futon was exactly as they'd left it nearly a month ago, the sheet stained with a smear of her menstrual blood and the bloody condom wrapped haphazardly in a white tissue. She really didn't understand why she hadn't insisted he leave, she knew she was due to start her period but she just couldn't tell him to beat it, literally, and so ended up knowing that the slickness of the condom was more than just her excitement. The sight of her own blood sickened her. She couldn't stand it when she bled, it was the reason why she refused to see him during her time of the month, she knew that he'd just except her fear and try to help her but she didn't want help, she wanted to fear and hate her monthlies.

As much as she enjoyed Ranma's company she knew she didn't deserve his love and devotion. At least not in the way he expressed it, no, she needed to stay alone and aloof – she didn't want commitment, she just wanted occasional warmth. Of course their relationship had, like all relationships, moved in unexpected directions and she genuinely felt for Ranma.

Collecting her bath supplies she entered the bathroom and pulled a towel from the rack. Sitting on the rubbery plastic stool she shampooed and conditioned before rinsing with cold water. She smiled at the thought of Ranma changing. It was kind of their unspoken agreement that he wouldn't ask about her scars and she wouldn't ask about his curse. It really wasn't all that spectacular a magic effect after all, she'd seen better, it was just a change in gross anatomy; it didn't change how he felt or thought.

Ena sunk into the furo and sighed as the warm water eased her sore thighs. She really didn't understand why she'd reacted so violently to Ranma's overtures, it was only a rose – it wasn't a ring or anything…

A rose…

She shook her head and ran her hands through her short hair. It was beginning to get a bit too long in the back; maybe she'd have Ranma cut it for her. Why was she so afraid of a little understanding? Why was she afraid of roses? Well, she knew the reasons but she didn't understand why the reactions hadn't lessened with time – everything seemed so fresh just like it'd happened yesterday. Roses brought pain, or so her body thought since she couldn't see a rose without feeling the slightest pinch deep within her soul. She idly traced the latticework of scars with a finger, running from a slit across her collarbone down to her navel. She was a shattered porcelain doll haphazardly glued back together.

Next door she could hear the overweight otaku screwing his blowup doll. His hoarse groans punctuated by the high-pitched squeaks of rubber. Pathetic, how had she ended up living in such a squalid, filthy place? She deserved better, why, she deserved to be nobility! She – Ena shook her head free of such thoughts and wiped her brow with a facecloth. The otaku cried out in a painful-sounding orgasm simultaneously with a particularly long squeak of the doll.

She rose from the furo and dried, wrapping the towel around her waist as she walked to the dresser and pulled out a clean pair of panties. She looked down at the abstract pattern created by scar-tissue running through her trimmed strip of pubic hair; it formed a leaning 'T' against her pink hairs with a perpendicular vertical line running to the top of her sheath. She was thankful she couldn't remember the pain. Not anymore.

Black slacks and a turtleneck sweater later she was ready to head out. Sitting by the door and lacing her boots she read the errant adverts strewn across her floor. Nails, hair, a second-hand boutique, cram schools, escorts, dial-a-dates, and one oddly colored blue flyer which simply said 'Floral Arrangements by A' followed by a number. Shaking her head at the odd note she grabbed her wallet and cell phone before leaving.

Outside, the otaku was putting out a small opaque white plastic rubbish bag while wiping his hands on his already stained jeans. She ignored his lecherous greeting and galloped down the stairs hoping against hope she could make it out the door before the landlord heard the sound of her platforms on the metal steps.

"Miss Ena!" The landlord was an older man, bald, who had a fat wife and an even fatter son. Ena didn't like him and he didn't like her but the rent was cheap and she always paid on time. Personally, she thought he didn't like her because she was only sixteen and living alone. "Miss Ena what have I told you about playing your music too loud?"

"I haven't even been here the past few days, Narita-san, ask Dumbo next door." 'Dumbo' was the otaku's nickname around the building since he had larger than average ears and a long droopy nose.

"I could have sworn I heard it coming from your apartment, young lady."

Ena smiled and started moving past him. "Got the wrong guy, Narita-san, gotta go!"

The walk to the store was uneventful. The rain had stopped at some point during her bath and left the air clammy and cold. Dark Designs was open when she arrived, Sara having put out Ai's latest creations and was in the process of cleaning the display cases when Ena walked in the door.

"Good afternoon, sempai."

"Hi, Sara, how has it been so far?" She hung her coat in back and stamped the flecks of leaf and sand from the bottom of her boots.

"Slow as usual." Sara brushed back her blonde hair and put the bottle of glass cleaner back under the counter.

"Not what I want to hear but okay. You can go now." Ena pulled on an apron and tied the cord behind her back while Sara pulled hers off over her head. "Are you working tomorrow?"

"No, Saturday though after cram school." She collected her purse from the backroom and waved goodbye. Ena waved back and took her place behind the counter.

It was going to be another boring day.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Mystery crossover. Ranma and the other series (you'll find out what it is in the next chapter) both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Chapter Four

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

"Ena? What does Ena have to do with anything?" Ranma sat down in a plush chair beside the couch, eyeing the suspicious girl warily. He wouldn't put it past her to have some kind of gassing device or hidden incapacitator on her person; he'd dealt with enough unbalanced people in his life to be prepared for anything. Still, Shi did nothing except tug her collar back down and look at him serenely.

"Ena, as you call her is a very…special girl. She is, quite literally, at the centre of everything."

"How do you know this, what the hell're you even saying?" Ranma stood up shaking with rage. "Listen, what the hell are you doing in my house? I don't want any pseudo-mystical crap about Ena being 'important' or 'special', hell if she were she wouldn't be working at a crappy boutique downtown!"

Shi weathered the storm and reached for a wrapped cookie on the table. As Ranma continued to rant and rave she peeled back the silver-gold wrapper ever so carefully and took a bite of the stiff cookie. Crumbs fell from the remainder of the sweet and tumbled onto her skirt. "I think you're not listening to me. I am here because there are some things you have to know about Ena, some very important things that may shock you."

"I don't have time for this crap, get out and – "

"You do not understand how important that girl is to the world…and to me." Shi placed the remaining cookie on the table and looked up at the young Saotome. "I have been searching for her all over, she has run and hidden herself away at the fringes of the world. Did you ever stop to think why she chose the life she leads? Surely you cannot believe it is anything less than a choice?"

"Listen, the last thing I need right now is a stalker."

"Stalking? You think that I'm after you?" Shi smiled seductively and crossed her tanned thighs. Somehow her skin looked darker than normal in the dim light. "You are an attractive man, Ranma, but I'm not after you." She stood up and pushed him back down into the chair before he could react.

He hadn't felt her move, nor sensed anything from her at all. Yesterday he hadn't bothered sensing her out, relying on visual evaluation of her movement and poise, that was a mistake; now when he tried to reach out to touch her aura he realized she had none, or at least one he could not sense. He tried to rise but couldn't even move his foot, his entire body sat boneless and limp. "Magic, you're using magic on me aren't you?"

"Of a sort. Not the type of magic you reek of; no, this is pure magic." Shi sat back down and adjusted her skirt. "Now I want to ask you a few questions about your girlfriend, Ena. Your mother tells me you've been together for the past year or so, do you remember exactly when you first met?"

"I'm not going to answer any of your questions until I get some answers! Who are you and what do you want with Ena?" Ranma was frankly surprised that his mouth wasn't paralyzed.

Shi sighed and leaned forward on her knees. "I'm a wanderer on the skin of time, a survivor of a time long ago that no one remembers save a select few. I don't want to go into specifics, and you don't need to know them anyway, but Ena is a…a renegade. She abandoned something very important, the mantle of greatness, and chose to exile herself here."

"So she's a criminal? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"Well…she didn't break any laws, and believe me when I say that I have not come to capture her." Shi tossed the remaining segment of cookie from the table into the hall. Ranma, paralyzed as he was, could not see why she would do such a thing but it seemed obvious that she wasn't in her right mind. "I want to be with her again, to protect her as I was initially charged to do, and in some way provide recompense for a great injustice I allowed to take place."

"So you're a lesbian who has the hots for my girlfriend but you're both really from a magical kingdom lost in time? Do I have all this right?"

Shi's lips drew down in a frown. "You needn't be so sarcastic, whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you."

"So what happened to her? Does this have something to do with the scars?" He thought it best to draw out the conversation as long as possible so he could find some way to strike back.

"The scars are part of it but not the whole story."

"So what the hell happened?"

Shi frowned and ran a hand through her silky bangs. "I cannot explain it to you bluntly, I can only tell you a story that has the truth buried within…whether you can decipher the truth from the lie depends on an open mind."

"I turn into a girl with cold water and my father becomes a panda," Ranma deadpanned, "I think I have an open mind for this kind of stuff."

"Very well, I shall tell you about her scars." She picked up a teacup from the edge of the table; one that Ranma could've sworn wasn't there just a moment ago. "You see there was once a Prince of Earth, a tall man who seduced the 'Queen' of his country and begat miracles from her flesh. A princess opposed the Prince, now King, of the Kingdom of Time and Eternity, who was of his flesh as it was said only a direct relative could strike a killing blow. They fought in the shadows of the kingdom and the Queen ignored the squabbles between her 'husband' and her 'child'. However, so bold had the Prince become that he openly threatened the Princess before the Queen and ran her through with his sword. Her purity sullied by the attack and her body wreaked by blow after blow of the Prince's swords, the Princess left the kingdom in shame, forsaking the Queen and her own friends, and disappeared into the mists of time with the help of a Witch. The Queen, in her grief, abandoned her paramour and ordered a search in the neighboring lands and times for the Princess in vain…until today."

"That really didn't explain much, you know." Ranma focused his ki into a finger and felt the suede fabric of the chair cushion under his fingertip.

"I am sorry but that is the best I can explain without revealing too much. Metaphor is the best I can accomplish unless certain protocols are met." Shi lifted the cup to her dark lips once more.

"Does this 'Princess' have something against roses?"

The cup slid from suddenly lax fingers and shattered on the edge of the table, showering the rug with porcelain shards and tea.

"I'll take that as a yes." Finally, a weakness in her aloof exterior, perhaps something he could exploit…

"The Prince of Earth carried red roses on his person. They were his weapons, sharpened and honed with experience and loss, they were capable of penetrating all but the strongest of wills." Shi leaned down and collected the pieces of teacup in her saucer.

"More riddles…can't you just speak normally? All this beating around the bush is tiring."

"I cannot associate with people such as yourself, those who are carried by the current and tide of Time, save in riddle. Take from my words what you wish."

"So you're some kind of guardian for the Princess, right? And you were charged by the Queen to find the Princess and bring her back to the kingdom? Well what happened to the Prince that did all these horrible things?" He had feeling in his palms now, it was only a matter of time before he broke her spell and took her out.

"I am a guardian of sorts…although probably not in the way you understand it, but there are others like me who search for the power of the Princess. Unfortunately the Prince is still alive and well, ruling the kingdom of the Queen while she mourns, dead to her surroundings. His power had made the other guardians forget their duties; I am the last guardian that has any hope of finding the Princess."

"And you think that Ena is the Princess?"

"I do. She has a very specific energy signature…you could say magic aura…that rubs off on objects she interacts with, a teapot for example, or a person. I know where she works but I don't want to frighten her so I decided that going through her boyfriend was the optimum situation. I had hoped to convince you of my sincerity but it seems you are still wary."

"Damn right, you buddy-up with my mother to confirm your suspicions, break into my house, paralyze me with your magic, and sit there telling me my girlfriend is a fugitive from some Magic Kingdom. How do you expect me to believe a word you say?"

Shi brought a hand to her mouth in thought and tilted her head back. "So you require proof?"

"You bet your ass I need substance, not any more of your fucking roundabout metaphors and lies! I need concrete proof I can touch, taste, and feel that what you're spouting is true." Ranma clenched a fist and felt his upper arm swell; it was just a few minutes more before he could break her spell completely.

"What if I show you some magic? What if I transform into my true, magical, form? Would that convince you to consider what I've told you?"

"Not really, anyone can change their appearance, I mean look at me! Shape shifting means nothing."

"I think you've gained enough freedom." She touched his chest with a finger and his limbs froze again. He cursed. "You are right, though, you need more proof than just a simple glamour."

Ranma grit his teeth, angry that he had to start all over. "So this isn't your true form? This isn't what you really look like?"

Shi shook her head. "This is what I usually look like with minor modifications. If I revealed my true face to you would that help win your trust?"

It was getting late; his mother would be home soon and, as pathetic as it was, she could fell Shi and release him from the magic spell. He just needed to stall her a little longer. "It might."

She stood and began to glow, her body sparkling with motes of magical energy that ran like veins across the surface of her skin. She rose into the air as light seemed to coalesce around her and he heard the rush of powerful forces tearing through his house. Spinning, she shot beams of light across the room and stretched in an arch as ribbons of energy leeched off her flesh. Ranma watched as the woman/girl silently screamed naked in the middle of the cocoon of power, her entire body bare of hair or blemish save a chiseled scar above her navel. Thunder pounded in his ears in time with his heartbeat and the energy began to dissipate, slithering off her nudity like beads of water.

Finally she stood in front of him in all her glory, her long purple hair fluttering in a phantom breeze.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Mystery crossover. Ranma and the other series (you'll find out what it is in the next chapter) both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

AN: Finally, the crossover is revealed. I realize that it was pretty obvious from the start and hope that you will continue even though the sense of mystery is dispelled.

The Revolution

Chapter Five

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

A warm hand fell upon his chest and he could move again. He started to rise from his seat but the hand pushed him back with immense strength. His eyes followed that dark-skinned hand up a thin arm to a lean, rounded shoulder and right to the tantalizing swell of cinnamon breast with a creamy pink aureole stiff and erect bobbing with the fluid motion of said breast from the spinning gyrations so recently ended. His mouth felt dry with desire and his penis stirred hesitantly at the sight of such a gorgeous body opened before his eyes. If Shi noticed his erection straining the fabric of his pants she gave no sign, opting to caress the sides of his face with her palms.

It felt good to be free of the cumbersome shackles of the disguise and stand freely in her own body. Air kissed her breasts and opened nether flower, eliciting involuntary emotions from deep within her body, which she knew had an effect on her prison. How funny it was that men were so easily swayed by nudity. Still, she could use it to gain his aid in her search. Tossing back her shiny purple tresses to lightly dapple her full, lusciously firm buttocks she sat across his lap and felt his manhood press against her inner thigh. How long had it been since she'd had a man? Far too long by her estimation, at least a full man and not the loathsome phantom of one clinging to sacrificial immortality. Her canal began to seep honey.

It would do no good to seduce this one, he was too strong-willed; he'd even broken her spell – not something an ordinary man could claim. No, she would not even entertain the idea of seducing the boy to help her, she could sense that deep down in his heart he was indeed devoted to his 'girlfriend' or at least what he believed to be her true face. Was there really such a difference between the two? Not really.

She rubbed her tush against his crotch and felt his hands cup her breasts reverently, as if handling a gift from god; it was the same thing all the time. Men became hopelessly devoted to her…even to the detriment of themselves. She tore his palms away from her breasts and forced them down between the armrests of the chair and his thighs. His crotch was slick with her juices.

"Listen to me, Ranma, look at me." She slapped him roughly across the cheek and shook his head. "Do you believe me?"

Sense flared to life behind his eyes and he blinked, staring deep into her eyes. "What are you?"

"I told you. I am a guardian of the Princess. Do you believe me now? Do you accept my words as truth?" The front door opened roughly and Ranma could hear his mother's shoes drop to the foyer floor with the heavy thump of her briefcase.

"I'm home! Ranma, I though you had a class tonight? Why are the lights-" She stopped in mid-sentence as she stepped in and saw the unique scene in the tearoom. "You…"

"Good evening, Nodoka." Shi released Ranma and stood up, walking over to the stunned matriarch. It felt good to see recognition in the redhead's eyes. "How have you been?"

"What are you doing here? And what are you trying to do with my son?" She grabbed the purple-haired girl by the shoulders and shook her violently. "You can't have him, do you hear me? You can't take my baby boy away!"

Shi simply stared hard into Nodoka's eyes. She could feel the fear and hatred welling up in the woman's heart and pulled away from her grasp. The redhead's hands continued to squeeze empty air. "It is not your decision, Nodoka, he has been chosen to attend."

"I won't let you, I won't have it! It's bad enough what you put me through; you're not doing that to Ranma! He has a girlfriend! People who cared about him!" Nodoka felt warmth seep down her arms and legs, giving her power and fueling her rage; how dare this wraith appear after nearly twenty years and try to destroy her happy family!

"As did you I recall, you spoke of them often. Tell me, how were they when you returned?" Shi sat back on the couch. A shadowy little figure scurried in from the hall and jumped into her lap. Ranma couldn't see what it was.

She didn't like hurting people, especially not an old friend, so to speak, but sacrifices must be made for the greater good. She reached behind her back and felt paper meet her hand; withdrawing her arm she handed Ranma a manila envelope with a stylized red blotch stamped in the centre. It was in the shape of a rose.

"What is this?" Ranma ripped open the envelope and withdrew three sheets of paper and a silver signet ring. "A ring?"

"NO," Nodoka screamed and tore the objects away from him, throwing them at the wooden stairs, "Don't touch anything, Ranma!"

Shi turned away from the mother and regarded the son. "You have been selected by the application committee of the Ohtori Academy University Program to attend freshman orientation in two day's time." She stretched out her right hand, palm up, and the ring levitated from the other room into her hand. "This is the Rose Seal of Dios, Prince of Ohtori Academy, with it you are designated a chosen duelist."

Nodoka leaned forward and slapped her across the face, throwing her naked body across the room in a pile. "Don't listen to anything she says, Ranma, they're all lies, lies tempt you! Don't listen!" She stepped forward intending to beat the purple-haired girl to death, a murderous red glint in her eyes.

Ranma grabbed his mother's wrist and twisted, lifting her up and tossing her roughly into his chair. She grunted with the wind knocked out of her and felt Ranma's arm across her throat. "Stop it, Mom! You made your point! You don't need to hit her!"

"There was a time that you embraced me like a lover, Nodoka."

"Shut up!"

"What?"

"Shut up, Anthy! Shut up or so help me I'll-"

"Quiet!" Ranma slapped his mother across the face. "You aren't making any sense, Mom, do you know her? Anthy? Is that her name?" He still saw the crazed gloss in her eyes, they were wild, frenzied like he'd never seen his mother before. It was disconcerting to know that she was so prone to violence.

"My true name is not 'Shi', Ranma, I am Anthy Himemiya: The Rose Bride of Dios; at least I was when your mother knew me and attended Ohtori." Anthy lifted herself up, clutching her chin, and produced the envelope and documents from thin air. "You have been chosen to become a Duelist for the Bride and gain the power of Eternity. If it helps you to know this, Nodoka, I am no longer the Rose Bride."

"Liar! You've been under his thumb for so many fucking years you really think you can escape? Don't make me laugh!" As his mother laughed, Ranma picked-up the silver signet and examined the stylized Rose Seal embedded in garnet. "You just want another patsy to foist off on your brother!"

"I did not come to your home to take Ranma. I have come to see a very important person to me; she is the one who freed me." Anthy handed the papers to Ranma. "I must speak with Utena, Ranma."

"Utena?"

"Don't give me that shit about needing to see someone else, you were after Ranma from the start, you want to take him away from me, don't you? You want to destroy my life again!"

The purple-haired girl knelt between Nodoka's legs and placed her head upon the woman's closed thighs. "That was not my intention then and it is not my intention now. Ranma must come to Ohtori Academy, Nodoka; you know this to be true. If you try to stop him he will only become more damaged."

Ranma grabbed the Bride's shoulder and pulled her around. "Wait a minute, are you talking about Ena? Ena is the Princess?"

"She is Utena, she lost her soul and drifted until settling here. She probably would have been easy to find if she had not fallen in love with you." Anthy caressed his face. "Your love covered her powers. I need her help and yours." A purplish blob with ears emerged from behind her neck wearing a red striped tie and gold earring. "If you choose to ignore the summons to Ohtori, Ranma, you will be called again later and taken against your will."

Ranma sat down on the couch and glanced at his comatose mother; whatever Himemiya did to her was powerful. "And if I go willingly?"

"You have a better chance of seeing the miracle of Eternity, Ranma, but you must accept the responsibility of the Duels and live by the edict of the Rose Seal."

He stared down at his feet. "And what about Ena…Utena? What will happen to her?"

"I do not know, like you she has a choice: she must face her demons and return to complete the revolution, or else live forever upon the fringes of society and destitution." Anthy sat back down on the couch and allowed Chu-Chu to hop onto Ranma's arm. He simply stared at the strange monkey creature before it disappeared into nothingness. If its disappearance caused Anthy any distress she gave no sign. "Our paths converge here and now, although they must inevitably branch further down the line."

Ranma sat down beside the naked Bride. Truthfully, he had no idea at all what Himemiya was blathering on about, only that Ena…Utena was in trouble. If she needed to return with Anthy to face the Prince at Ohtori, then he would go with her. He wanted to know what manner of man would scar a girl so severely. "What about my mom?"

The Rose Bride sighed softly and regarded Nodoka. She remembered the fiery-haired girl who arrived at the academy with nothing more than a school uniform and a signet. The girl who defied the will of the Student Council at the time and fought all the way to the duel of 'Soi' before falling inevitably under Akio's malevolent manipulations. The time spent as Bride to the young Nodoka Asakawa conflated with the easy days as Utena Tenjou's companion, neither asked anything outrageous of her, nor did they mistreat her. In retrospect, Anthy realized that she should have stopped then student council president Yasuhiro Kusuda from landing the blow that crippled Nodoka's chances of attaining the revolution and cast her out in disgrace.

"Anthy?"

"She is scarred and crippled from her experiences at Ohtori, Ranma, I would not ask her to join us. Time heals all; she will live to understand that the choice you make now is no choice at all if your heart is true."

"What happened?"

"Your mother was a duelist once…many, many years ago. She burned brightest among the duelists but it was love that eventually defeated your mother. Nodoka fell into the embrace of the Prince and so was led down the path to ruination." She turned back to the pigtailed man and smiled wryly, placing her left hand over his right. "I mean no disrespect to her character but you are far stronger than she was, you have the potential to be perhaps the greatest of all Duelists. You may reach Revolution, as Utena did."

"And if I fail?"

She looked seriously into his eyes, swirling with questions and doubt. Realizing he needed something more from her, she kissed him softly upon the cheek, her lush lips brushing his stubble. "Do not."

Ranma touched his cheek where she kissed him, thoughts running at light speed through the synapses of his brain. Nothing made sense anymore but he was reacting, instinct ruling his decision-making process with atavistic survival – he was making the right decision. "And what of Utena?"

Anthy Himemiya, the Rose Bride turned her head to the door. "She is here."


	7. Chapter 59

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Mystery crossover. Ranma and the other series (you'll find out what it is in the next chapter) both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

AN: A short chapter to set up the next arc.

The Revolution

Chapter Five Point Nine

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

Night fell upon him and he saw the heavens rise at his call. The celestial orbs spun in gossamer webs across his domed domain, planets orbiting his central gravity, moons pulled into tidal rotations by his sheer pull, and the black void illuminated by his very presence. He felt that something was different tonight, as if the fundamental laws of the universe were loose in their sockets, spreading subtle discord through his pantheon.

Such things could not be allowed to stand. Bad enough that he lost the single greatest bargaining chip and been denied the treasure that was rightfully his for the fifth time in eternity, but the wellspring of power and flux in his surroundings was muted as if the flow was ebbing off to nothingness. Damn her for leaving him like that to chase after a failure! He would bring her back, if not in person than in political maneuverings – he knew she would return, knew that she would bring Tenjou with her, but was not expecting an interloper. Surely the stars were wrong, Tenjou would never give her heart to any save himself and Anthy was incapable of strong affection. The 'feelings' his sister held for the failure would sputter and die like the embers of a white dwarf before imploding into her heart and returning the void he could exploit.

A new stage was beginning.

He was Sol, the Student Council his wanderers, and their swords his cosmic meteors of divine justice. Vengeance would rain down from his lofty peak like Zeus' mighty thunderbolt and smite those small creatures thinking themselves big enough to touch his shoes. Things proceeded as normal at Ohtori; none remembered the failure or her duels thanks to his meddling and the power of the Rose Gate. Yet what was the feeling he had deep in the core of his soul, the gnawing sense that something was moving against his will? It shouldn't matter, even if Anthy found the failure she would have no more strength of will or power than before, even if she defeated the duels again her sword would not break the seal on Dios' power. The next generation of duelists was gathering on campus, some returning players from the previous performance, others enlisted from the limitless supply of raw talent in the outside world.

New blood meant new power.

Akio sat in the planetarium and wondered just what prompted Anthy to resist him, defy his will and set out into the sea of uncertainty for a single lone failure. There had been five since the Duels began, all unusable in the end, but never had Anthy disobeyed his rule as End of the World to begin again. Something changed in her during the Tenjou duels, something that Akio knew, or thought he knew, to be a petty, false emotion. The Bride did not have feelings, she simulated them for the betterment of the performance and to obtain the situations he needed to stimulate the characters to conflict.

Cygnus moved overhead and he fitfully followed its path, suddenly unsure in his rotation. Looking in a mirror lately caused him no end of concern as his perpetually youthful appearance had begun to show signs of age for the first time in forever. The Prince of Lies mask crackled under the internal pressures of stress and fear. Ha! How could one such as he feel mortal emotions like fear? He could not, he was the Rose Prince and he would be again, even if it took eons.

On the red couch between the projector and the elevator, Kanae Ohtori sat regarding her husband in a trance.

Five floors down from the observatory, Touga Kiryu's head perked up and he closed the flap on his cell phone. Something was changing in the nature of the air. A pink balloon drifted by, sailing far up over the covered dome of the dueling arena. He stood up with the awful rasping scrape of the wrought-iron chair against the pristine white concrete of the floating prow of the Student Council Offices.

Miki Kaoru clicked his stopwatch at 00:05:46 and scribbled a note in his little brown book. A small bird egg rolled off the facing page of the journal and shattered on the floor beside his feet, spilling yoke and white across the floor. He too stood up and watched the pink balloon drift on the breeze, free like only a mindless object can be – free from desire, agency, and coercion.

Juri Arisugawa simply watched her fellow council members rise with a haughty smirk. Dressed as she was in the Student Council whites the shape of her gold locket was not visible between her breasts. Well-manicured nails tapped impatiently against the glass top of their table as she waited for something interesting to happen. She was the first to see the dark purple balloon emerge from beneath the edge of the prow and join the pink in a lazy dance into the heavens.

Twenty floors down from the Council chambers, in the main courtyard, Nanami Kiryu paused with a slice of fried chicken halfway to her dainty lips as the balloon couple passed overhead. Something familiar tickled in the back of her mind…she couldn't put her finger on it but the image boded ill for the future. Beside her, Mitsuru Tsuwabuki followed his mistress's glance up into the sky and watched the rubber ovals continue their migration towards the Dueling Forest.

In a hidden culvert between the art building and the gym, Kozue Kaoru stopped urging a male student's head between her legs and glanced up as the inflated couple passed. She felt a chill of fear start at the top of her head and work its way down to her bare toes. Any sexual desire in her body froze at the sensation and she casually kicked the enthusiastic boy under the chin and into a patch of nettles.

Wakaba Shinohara paused on her way across the bridge between the North and East dormitories to look up. Her companion, a green-haired boy with curious spiral shapes on either side of his head like enormous snail shells stopped in mid sentence and followed her gaze. Deep inside her breast something stirred, a memory suppressed returned ablaze. Himemiya…that was a girl's name, wasn't it? Who was she?

Locked inside the prison of her room, Shiori curled her legs up to her chin and locked her elbows beneath her kneecaps. The only illumination in her dark cavern of the self was the blue sky seeping through her window. The balloons drifted by but she did not notice. Shivers ran up her spine as they passed.

Saionji Kyoichi paused in mid-strike and turned to the barred basement window of the Kendo Team practice room. Two orbs of color passed between the slats of the grate and he felt a fire ignite within his heart. Nothing normal could so such a thing, no normal girl satisfy his love, he knew that the girl of his dreams lay beyond the campus, perhaps beyond the world. A flash of pink hair galvanized his mind like a lightning bolt. He smiled although he knew not what was about to occur and resumed his practice.

Far above, in the mystical space inside the Castle of Eternity, the ghost of what was once before moved his head. A promise? No, a gesture. Things were shifting out of control in ways never considered possible.

Back in the darkened observatory, Akio smirked and watched the heavens spin backwards.


	8. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Utena crossover. Ranma and Utena both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Chapter Six

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

Ena arrived at the doorstep and immediately realized something was very wrong. Usually the house was brightly lit but instead it was bathed in darkness that seemed almost tangible to her, a living pall that curled around her ankles and forced her ever towards the shining steel plated buzzer. Fear welled up inside, she didn't want to be here tonight, something was off in the air like the pungent stench of rotting flesh, not anywhere visible but insidiously close. Her left ring finger itched awfully along the parallel white scars circling the thin layer of fat over her bone. A ring had once fitted that finger, a ring that ended up causing her nothing but trouble and heartache, yet at the same time held the inescapable nostalgia of her youth. That too, however, was tainted with pain.

She always fled from pain…when she was a child; as an adult she'd tried to face the agony and keep a stiff upper lip in the face of unimaginable torment. She had failed, however, and now was nothing more than a child again. How many others were trapped in perpetual youth? How many other people went about their daily lives with merely half a soul? Those at Ohtori had even less, or so she thought, since they were beaten spirits clinging to their pleasant memories like security blankets against the encroaching dark of growth and adulthood. Sex was not equal to adulthood.

Ranma was still a child as well; he hadn't even grown out of adolescence, despite physical changes and a slight maturation of his temper and mind, or so Nodoka had told her. Were all people trapped in a vicious static loop of emotional pain and anguish? If so then what was the bloody point of going to Ohtori and bringing the Revolution? Was it more than Akio believed? Was the power of Dios something that held sway over a human heart? The pain lanced through the lattice of scars; the remembrance was too soon, the wounds bloody still since a year hence.

Failure was eternal, the only eternity she could readily believe in, and it was all around her. Each person held within unknowable depths that were not easily plumed and carried emotional scars worse than her physical ones. How could anyone make any difference in the world if there was nothing but pain and sorrow?

No one answered the door. It was unlocked, it usually was, but she felt strangely hesitant to open the door without permission. The aura of the home had shifted, changed, and alien feelings rose under her breast, a burning flare of pain before the scent of stale sweat and ruthless arrogance stung the nostrils.

It smelled of roses.

It couldn't be, it just wasn't possible that he would follow her this far, not this far beyond the strange nexus of time and possibility anchored below the Rose Gate of Eternity. Akio himself would not be so gauche as to personally usher she back, it wasn't his style, this was another agent. The Prince? It was impossible she knew but the thought persisted. Reaching out, her hand grasped the icy brass handle and pushed open wide the door to a singular gloom accompanied by the breathing of three individuals.

Utena stepped inside the house of her lover and self-proclaimed boyfriend (although she did consider him her paramour she would never admit it) with the cautious steps of an elder rat casing the newest high-tech trap. The bait was better but a trap was always recognizable, sure it was dark now instead of light, sure the scent of roses was cloying and fetid as opposed to sweet and fragrant, but she knew danger lurked within. The door shut and despite the fear she removed her boots. The tearoom door was shut.

Breathing, yes, Ranma's breathing came from behind the opaque door into the livingroom. It was rough and ragged, like he breathed after a heavy bout of sex or exercise, and she presently thought that perhaps he was merely cheating on her – it didn't account for the scent but she knew when she wasn't welcome. Could it just be her body's reaction to rejection? She never had felt truly comfortable in the world since appearing in an alley. Even with all the wounds scarred over she ached for weeks.

A drop of blood expanded on the wooden floor. Her blue orbs caught it and galvanized on the spot. A struggle? Menstrual blood? A sign of reckless deflowerment? She suddenly felt pain strobe out of her flesh and pulse for a moment of excruciating perfection before dialing down to anguish, a moment later the cycle continued and she collapsed to the floor. Blood drops pattered to the floor like the sound of oncoming rain clouds. She screamed as fluid poured from the elastic keloid tissue tracing veins across her torso, splattering irregularly bit by bit until she thought she might die. Arching her back in a curiously canine gesture, she bellowed out a rasping call for help before collapsing into the pool of her own lifeblood.

Ranma opened the door at the sound of her scream and rolled her onto her back, her head resting in his lap, the floor smeared with red in a wide swath around her. Anthy rushed past him and pinched the sides of her forehead.

"What's happening to her?"

The Rose Bride leaned forward over the prostrate girl and ran her hands over her torso. "The seal on her sword is cracking. Her memories of despair are shattering her soul."

"Is there anything you can do?"

"I can withdraw her sword from its sheath…but it may kill her physical body." It was a dangerous operation to pull the physical representation of a person's will out of their fleshy sheath, especially if the body was currently bleeding out over the floor. The scars were bleeding. "She may fall to pieces without her will."

Ranma clutched her tighter and tried to ignore the sickeningly sticky texture of his girlfriend's blood slowly drying on his skin. "Is there anything else we can do…can't you do something with your magic or something?"

"I can't cure a sickness of the soul, Ranma, Utena realized that I was here and does not want to return to Ohtori."

"Shit!" He tapped her cheek, leaving twin dabs of bloody fingerprints on her light skin, and Utena's eyes peeked open, blue irises focused on nothing. Dead like a doll's eyes.

Anthy licked her lips and rubbed Utena's left breast in a circular motion. "Rose of Nobility…" Blinding light began to cascade and coalesce in her cupped palm, motes of shining dew stretching beyond the walls of the house and constraints of physical space to a world beyond, a world of magic and mystery. Somewhere within the dark sanctums of his eternal thirst, The Prince of Lies felt the tug of Eternity lance out from the sheltered paradise of scars into the greater world beyond.

Ranma closed his eyes and brought an arm to shield his face, the light was simply too bright. He'd fought gods and kings before but none of their supposedly magical tricks held a candle to the suffocating powerful energy he felt swirling around him now, a palpable stench of ozone filled the air and he felt his muscle begin twitching in nervous anticipation.

Light was being pulled from all directions, leaving only shadows in the world as Anthy's hand pressed lightly under Utena's sternum, her appendage a glowing disk of light. He turned away completely as the pink-haired girl began to violently twitch and moan, the painful tearing of body and soul nearing its zenith. Anthy closed her eyes as well and pressed her hand deeper into her lost paramour's chest cavity. Grasping the handle of her lover's blade, she tore it quickly and painfully out. "Please…Come Forth!"

Everything was gone. The light, the struggle, the blood; Ranma, Utena, and Anthy were clean as was the floor, not a drop of blood betrayed the violent rebirth of Tenjou's will. Ranma checked Utena's pulse and found it regular and steady before a slim hand encircled his wrist. Utena looked into her boyfriend's eyes and saw recognition mingled with worry.

"Ranma?"

"Utena…thank god." He helped her sit up and let her back leaned against his chest, wrapping his arms around her protectively. Her eyes closed in rapture, basking in the love lavished upon her by the sweet and equally damaged man clinging to her. Wait just a moment? Utena? Lids flashed open and she saw the other figure gently cradling her heart sword.

"Himemiya. How long have you been here stalking me?" The words were a bit too harsh considering there was no malice in her voice or venom in her attitude. "I've been thinking about you and the others for the past few days, that was because of you, right?"

"I've been following you since you left, Utena-sama. I…do not agree with what happened to you and so I disobeyed Oni-san's orders and left the campus. I've watched you for the past three days." As the purple-haired girl stood up a deep red business suit phased into being around her and Chu-Chu popped out from behind her ear. "I humbly ask for your forgiveness, Utena-sama for the many things I did to you."

Utena pushed Ranma's hands down away from her sides and used her palms to scoot her behind further into his crotch. She ended up looking like a petulant little child in her parent's lap. "Forgiveness is long in coming, Himemiya, especially now." She crossed her arms under her slight breasts. "I'm not going back."

Anthy's gaze fell to the floor and Utena's sword fell from her limp fingers to clatter on the floor with the jarring metal clang of solid steel. "I understand…it will not be easy for you."

Ranma brushed back Utena's short bangs. "Anthy came here with an invitation for me-"

"Don't take it, all she ever says is the same lie over and over again." She could feel the anger welling up in her soul. Her sword began to glow red. "You can't go to Ohtori Academy."

"I think I may have to…just so I can find the bastard that did this to you and snap his bloody neck." Even though she couldn't see it, she knew he had that roguish smirk on his face. Anthy watched the two with rapt attention, waiting for them to make a decision. "I feel like I was called there? Do you know how that feels?"

She did, she knew how sometimes the pull of Ohtori Academy can drag you out of bed and across half the country just to fall dead exhausted before the wrought iron gates. She knew the hollow feeling inside from some forgotten trauma, some petty vice growing like a tumor inside your heart; oh yes she knew just how powerful the lure of Eternity was…but she could resist it, right? "Yes."

"Utena-sama, you must understand that I have come for you out of my own free will. My brother has nothing to do with this…I must make amends for the hardships and pain you experienced. I offer myself to your service in whatever way you see fit." Her dress flowed into shadow and reformed in the sea-blue and white uniform of Ohtori. Waving her hands in a wiping gesture across the pink-haired girl she dressed Utena in a black male uniform top and red sport shorts. The grotesque spidery lattice of scars destroyed any enjoyment of her coltish legs.

"Don't Himemiya…just don't, I like the way I am now." Utena grasped her sword by the blade and slowly fed the steel back into her body with the faint noise of rasping metal. It was too long; the blade was tarnished and pitted with rust. "Just don't bother me right now alright? You think I need a servant? All you're doing is trading one kind of slavery for another." Ranma tried to rub her shoulders in an effort to calm the irate Duelist but she would have none of it, knocking his arms away brusquely. "You want to know what I want you to do? Take control of your life, Anthy, decide what you want to do."

The Bride arose from her knees and clasped her hands before her. Uncertainty flashed behind her eyes as her hair morphed back into the tight curled buns she used to wear. "I shall follow you, Utena-sama, in whatever you may deign to undertake."

The couple rose to their feet as well and Utena noticed for the first time Ranma's Rose Seal. "When did you get this?"

He looked down and seemed to see the ring for the first time. "I don't know…I guess I must have slipped it on in the mad scramble earlier." Utena's eyes narrowed to slits and she turned to Anthy.

"He's accepted already. You put him up to it, didn't you?"

Anthy smiled her mocking smile and cocked her head to the side in puzzlement. "I don't know what you're talking about, Utena-sama, Ranma accepted the scholarship at Ohtori Academy University of his own free will. Perhaps he will be the one to bring the World Revolution?"

Utena slapped the dark-skinned girl to her knees. "I won't let you have him, you or Akio, or Mikage, or even Dios. Ranma's mine, do you understand?"

Anthy just nodded.

"Good." She turned back to her puzzled boyfriend. "We have to get you packed now, we'll leave in the morning."

"Why so soon? What the hell was all that about?" Ranma followed her upstairs to his room. "Anthy said I had to go sometime and I wanted to beat the shit out of whoever did this to you, what's wrong with that?"

"You don't know what you're dealing with, you can't defeat him, you can't kill him, he's nothing more than a phantom." She threw a pile of his clothing on the floor.

"Wait a minute! Who are you talking about?"

"The Prince, the Devil, Akio, you'll find out. I'm coming with you." He crossed to her side and grabbed her wrists. She struggled for a moment before giving up; he was much too strong for her. He might actually make it through the duels…

"So that's what all this was about, you just didn't want to admit to Anthy that you want to come back. Would it be so bad?"

"It would be lost face, you would never do it, and Anthy is not an ordinary girl."

"I got that impression," Ranma replied wryly. "Are you going back for me? To help me with the Duels? Or are you going for revenge?"

Utena smiled cruelly, exposing her eyeteeth, and scowled. "Revenge. I have…had a lot of friends back at Ohtori Academy and I'll be damned if I let that bastard Akio use them like puppets!"

Ranma realized that there were depths of meaning and history between Utena and Anthy and Ohtori that he did not and perhaps would never understand. Tension flowed from one entity to the other, anger lit his girlfriend's frame with new life, and he felt a competitive spark ignite within his chest for the first time in two years. He'd go to Ohtori and participate in the Duels, live by the Rose Seal, and, with Utena by his side; he'd free her from the shackles of her past. It was the right thing to do, the manly thing, the honorable thing to pursue.

He'd be damned before he let Utena down.

AN: Here's just a short response to the reviews on that caught my eye.

RubberNeck: I read your review early on and made the conscious decision to write Anthy's story so that you could read it as a Sailor Moon crossover. Sorry to dupe you like that but the idea hadn't occurred to me before (I'd always planned it to be a Utena cross) and I have to try it. Reading the fairy tale with Utena in mind makes for an interesting read. Just remember that it's a subjective tale and not wholly accurate.

Innortal: I'm glad that it surprised you so much. You should work on "I Do" more, that's one of my favorite EVA fics at the moment, although I have to question the decision to cross over with Ranma (I know I shouldn't say anything since I cross Ranma with just about everything), it just seemed a bit out of the blue. Still, keep up the good work.

ADShadowwalker: I actually was reading Yotsubato when I started writing this so I took the name Ena from that. Stupid as it sounds, I didn't realize that it was just Utena without the UT until your review. Creativity works in mysterious ways, huh?


	9. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Utena crossover. Ranma and Utena both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Chapter Seven

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

The light was twinkling in through the gossamer curtains draped haphazardly over the tall windows and shining into his eyes. It was early, perhaps only seven and neither of them needed to go to any classes, only a Student Council meeting at two. Still, it was probably for the best if he got up, it wouldn't do for Nanami to walk in and find the two of them naked and stretched out all over each other, now would it?

Saionji waited for Touga to roll off his stomach before rising. His crotch felt sore and his ass stung a bit when he clenched; damn Touga for putting him through that last night, it was supposed to be his turn on the bottom, still, both of them enjoyed the activity so it was really only a case of a bruised anus. A servant had already brought in a tray with coffee and croissants; the wheeled cart sat beside Touga's side of the bed and the scent of fresh ground coffee made him hungry. Reaching over he grabbed a chocolate-filled pastry and rolled over to face the window. He enjoyed sleeping over.

School life had become boring with the advent of the latest semester; the duels had stopped for now since Anthy ran away there were no Bride and therefore no real point in fighting. Juri and Miki were both heavily involved in prepping the fencing club for the regionals while he and Touga had little if nothing to do. Sure he was the captain of the kendo club but he wasn't really all that interested, all he cared about was beating Touga once, just once. The pompous red-haired pretty boy was getting cocky again, Saionji could feel his friend's member swell and slide over his thigh on a silky layer of precum.

The both of them had girlfriends, many as a matter of fact, but they also liked to fool around together, just like they had as children. Akio didn't seem to mind them screwing and it wouldn't impair their ability to duel so there was no problem. Much like Juri's secret predilection for the pretty female fencing members, their illicit relationship fell below the radar. Touga's cell phone rang noisily from the bedside table.

"Yes? I see…handle the details, will you?" The phone shut with a click and Touga's body lay back against the bolster.

"Who was that?"

"Juri. Apparently the Rose Bride will be returning this evening with a new Student Council member." The redhead flipped back his luxuriously long bangs and nibbled on a buttered scone. It was odd, though, that the cart hadn't had any scones, only croissants; still, strange things did happen around Touga.

"A new Student Council member? And what position will they hold? We already have a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, what other positions are available?" The teal-tressed boy reached over for a cup of coffee. "Or will they just hang around the council chambers like your sister?"

"Nanami makes herself useful, unlike some people who use their position to laze about all day." The Student Council president pointedly looked to his vice-president.

"I just don't feel motivated to do anything anymore. Anthy will be returning, though?"

"Yes, and apparently the duels will begin again. The new member is apparently a liaison between the high school and university. A freshman."

Saionji sat up and dangled his legs off the edge of the bed. "We will still be in control of the council, right?"

Touga slipped on a red silk bathrobe and grasped the brass handled bedroom door. "We will retain power over the Academy if that's what you mean. I think this new member is only an observer." He pointed to the pile of Kyoichi's clothing. "Make sure you don't dawdle, Nanami will stop by on her way out the door. It wouldn't be for the best if she discovered you here." With that he slipped out the door.

Saionji sighed and gulped down a cup of coffee before pulling on his pants and tunic. Getting back into his own dorm was always a hassle the morning after his tussles with Touga, the dorm mother didn't take kindly to any student staying elsewhere and despite his status as vice-president of the Student Council he still felt her wrath. If he hurried maybe she wouldn't notice…

Down the grand hall from Master Touga's bedroom, Nanami watched as the green-haired fop sneaked out of their garden. She didn't believe, couldn't believe that her virile brother would sink so low as to debase himself with such a stupid individual. It stunned her to think of her brother caressing that simpleton's naked flesh with reckless abandon, to imagine how the sweat might glisten off their manly backs as one penetrated the other, their virile members throbbing with hot blood…she was ashamed to admit that the thought sometimes got her a bit wet.

Still, it bothered her that her beloved brother rutted with such uncultured louts such as the disgraced Saionji. Her brother needed a woman befitting his poise and class, a good woman from a good family – just not better than their own station lest his powerful ego take a mortal blow. She knew her brother's weaknesses, knew his character inside and out, realizing that he would never settle down for any woman for longer than it took to woo and bed her. His heart was set on a very special woman…a girl, really, who grew like a weed around his very soul.

Utena…the girl who ensnared her brother, the very sound of the harlot's name brought fresh waves of rage boiling out from her fevered brain. No one else seemed to remember her save the student council members and even then she could not remember the accursed girl's family name, only her given accompanied by the image of vibrant, pink hair. They were gathered in the council chambers on the verge of revolution when…something happened…she wasn't quite sure what happened. In fact, she couldn't really remember much of anything that happened last semester.

Odd, that, but it couldn't be anything important. She packed her school bag and set out to school, hoping that Tsuwabuki remembered to bring her lunch, the other day he was held up in the council chambers and forgot to give her the bento. She'd had to resort to the normal cafeteria food for the first time in she couldn't remember how long.

She'd just passed the threshold of the mansion when her cell phone rang. Continuing down the path to the lower school building, she fished the slim black machine out of her pocket and accepted the call.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Anthy Himemiya will return tonight. The Duels will begin again." The mystery man's voice was garbled, but it was deep and impossibly old. End of the World was up to his usual tricks again. Nanami closed the flap and shoved the phone dejectedly back into her pocket. Like she would care if that witch returned? Ha, Anthy Himemiya could rot in Hell for all she cared. If it wasn't for her there wouldn't be any duels, no danger of Touga losing his confident edge, no danger of losing face; now with her announced return uncertainty would fill their lives. All Nanami knew was they she wasn't going to get sucked into the awful game again.

Above the Ohtori campus but below the Chairman's residence, Touga arrived at the Student Council chambers and was pleased to see Juri already seated in the centre chair. The orange-haired woman with sausage curls lounged artfully against the back of a wrought-iron patio chair with her long lithe neck exposed. Touga often questioned why Juri would prefer women over men, after all she could have any man eating out of her hand in a moment, but thought that perhaps she wouldn't be the same Juri if she were heterosexual. He noticed she had her locket out.

Utena Tenjou's picture was inside the locket now where Shiori Tsukasa used to be, a small front portrait of the pink-haired girl taken before she moved into the chairman's residence. Oh yes, Touga remembered well the days after the Black Rose duels, the death of Ruka Tsuchiya, and the failed revolution. He remembered plotting with End of the World while driving on the edge of the world, remembered the feel of Akio's hands on his flesh, the salty taste of his sweat between his lips, the ecstasy of the wind on his face. Saionji remembered as well, at least he thought he did – they never talked about it for good reason. The Chairman remembered but then again how could he forget?

"Good morning, Juri. Do we know anything about this new liaison to the council?" He sat down at the left side of the table and poured himself a cup of tea from the stainless-steel trolley beside his chair.

Juri looked up from her now closed locket and fixed her eyes on Touga. "Nothing except a name: Ranma Saotome. And if it is to be believed, he's arriving with Utena Tenjou." She waited a moment for his shock to pass. "We all knew Anthy went off in search of Tenjou, I just didn't expect such quick results."

"Utena Tenjou…why would she return here to Ohtori? She failed to bring the Revolution, could she deign to try again?" He leaned back and let his head dangle from the lip of the chair's backrest. Tenjou…he longed to see her again longed to smell the faint scent of roses in her hair and feel the forcefulness of her personality. She was such a free spirit unchained by the rigorous ritualization of campus life and for that he admired her. The fact that she was also the only individual he'd ever truly loved was also a major part of his reaction. "I wonder how she is?"

Juri tucked her locket back underneath the collar of her uniform and shifted the position of her breasts. She had to be in the fencing clubroom in an hour to start training the new competitors for the regional championship. "A year can change a person, Touga, she may not be the girl she was…this Saotome character could be her boyfriend."

"Preposterous! A regal and princely girl such as Utena would never take a common man to be her lover."

"Naturally she would take someone like yourself?"

Touga had the decency to look away. "Not someone exactly like myself, rather a man of noble birth and bearing."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Mr. President. I have to leave for a practice session, will the council meet this afternoon?"

"Plan on it," he leaned forward on his elbows and clasped his hands before his mouth, "we'll have to discuss how we will handle the return of the Rose Bride. As well as Tenjou." Juri stood and crossed to the elevator. Touga just leaned back again and looked straight up at the ceiling, wondering how Akio was handling the situation.


	10. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Utena crossover. Ranma and Utena both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

The Revolution

Chapter Eight

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

The trio left Ranma's house in the morning with nothing in their stomachs and too many things whirling in their minds. Anthy led the group to the curb where an older convertible sat idling in the street, with Utena and Ranma following close behind with an assortment of baggage. The previous night had proven uncomfortable because, no matter how angry Utena seemed at the mysterious purple-haired girl, the two seemed to act out a strange bedtime ritual before falling asleep in Nodoka's bed. He'd slept beside Utena, spooning her to him while she in turn spooned against Anthy. At several times during the night he'd mistaken Anthy for Utena and fondled her chest before realizing his mistake. While the dark-skinned girl gave no sign of discomfort it still bothered him how she just lay there and accepted the actions on her body.

Packing the suitcases into the truck, Ranma sat in the back seat while Utena took shotgun and Anthy drove. He hadn't noticed that the car was marked 'NODOKA' on the bumper and license plate. It was probably better he not know that the mode of transportation was fashioned from the flesh and blood of his mother, in Anthy's opinion. There was very little to hold him to the house save his mother, he had very few material possessions and hadn't lived in the house long enough to have any strong memories. He bid farewell to his one-time domicile silently and watched as they pulled away onto the street.

"So tell me, Anthy, what are the duels about? How are they fought?" He was interested in thinking up strategies to help him in his first challenge. With all the things he knew from Cologne and Happosai the Duels would be nothing more than a formality.

"The duels are fought one-on-one with swords. Each duelist is given a rose to pin to their breast, the winner is the individual who retains his rose throughout the match."

"So all I have to do is slice a rose from my opponent's shirt?"

"Yes." Anthy pulled the car into a darkened tunnel between roads and the car began to hum strangely. Tall lights began to pass by as they sped through the dark. "However, the duels must be fought fairly…no killing or special moves allowed."

"So you can't use any of your special moves, Ranma, there are magical barriers in place to prevent a lopsided fight." Utena chimed in from her seat. She may have been presenting a strong façade for Ranma but inside she was petrified at what was about to happen. She'd left after failing to bring the Revolution, would anyone remember who she was at all? How much time had passed at the mystical campus of Ohtori? One? Two? Ten? How many of them would still be there?

"I'm afraid that your abilities will be useless once we reach Ohtori, Ranma."

"What do you mean 'useless'? Are they going to suddenly disappear from my mind?" He was wary of her using any magic on him again, who knew how two types of magic would react to one another? So far he'd stayed male all last night and this morning, he didn't relish the idea of being introduced as a female.

"I'm afraid that we all must leave something behind when we enter the Ends of the World, Ranma; we lose that which we most hate to lose in order to make ourselves stronger." Anthy pressed the gas and watched the yellow lines of the road pass under the hood in a blur.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "And what exactly do you lose, Anthy?"

"Everything," she responded as the warning began rushing by on the tarmac; they had almost reached the threshold of eternity on the road that leads to the End of the World. "I lost everything that matters to me and gain everything that will matter to me."

Utena shifted uncomfortably in her seat as the road lights began whizzing by faster and faster, it all reminded her too much of riding with Akio along the winds of eternity late at night. "Are you sure you don't want to turn back, Ranma? It still isn't too late…"

"I'm afraid it is, Utena-sama, we're approaching Ohtori now." Anthy smiled as she swiftly spun the wheel, causing it to spin into the darkness. Ranma felt the momentum of the spin wash over him before realizing that it had already passed. "We are here."

Ranma opened his eyes, he'd closed them once they entered the suicidal spin, and beheld an ornate rose carved into what looked like marble or concrete. All around was darkness, pitch-black voids stretching on all sides of the small circular disk the car stood upon. He could detect no sound save Utena's rapid breathing and Anthy's sedate respiration. The chamber they were in was a void.

"Where is here?" The trio stepped out of the silent car and took their luggage from the trunk. "I don't see much of anything."

"This is the Rose Gate of Ohtori, Ranma, the portal into the campus, and the End of the World." The purple-haired girl waved a hand and the car disappeared. "Here we pass through into a world of pure will, a world in which the power of miracles, everything that shines, and true friendship exist."

"That's all well and good, Anthy, but how do we get inside? There doesn't seem to be any door." He watched as Utena and Anthy took opposite places beside the solid stone gateway. "Do we knock?" The void was beginning to get to him, as though thousands of hateful words lurked below sight in the darkness.

The air grew thick and murky, coiling like fog around their ankles, yet still the two girls did not move from their places. Ranma looked around warily, just knowing that something was going to pop out of the blackness and strike him in the back. A chittering, clattering sound arose from all around them and flashes of steel glinted far below. He walked uneasily towards the two and shook Utena's shoulder. No response.

"Let go of those things that hold you back, Ranma, you must sacrifice that which you hold most dear to wager for your freedom." Anthy turned to him but her eyes were blank, white holes from which something ancient peered. He fell back and gave into the irrational fear swelling in his heart, dashing back towards where the car stood in to get as far away from the couple as possible.

Clashing and clanging arose in the air around him, faint; sharp pricks of reflected light scintillating off the marble ground with a horrendous chittering of insects and steel. He couldn't see what spun in the air around him but felt waves of displaced air zip and cut behind him, taking slices of his clothing with them. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Why were the two of them just standing idly by while he was attacked? He spun and looked behind just in time to catch the barest glimpse of razor-sharp metal shooting straight towards his eyes. Ducking, he rolled back to the two comatose girls and tried to pull Utena away, instead, all his hand clutched was the hard glass of an invisible pane. Swearing at the pain coursing through his fingers from contact with the unseen barrier, he fell back on his ass and drew an arm up to protect his face from the threat he knew weaved patterns of evisceration all around him.

Suddenly he felt a stinging pain in his stomach and another surging through his forehead. Before he could even scream in pain they were upon him, thousands it seemed penetrating every square inch of his body, every bit of exposed flesh, every molecule of his being felt like forty thousand dull blades were skewering it.

"Open your eyes, Ranma, and see the truth." Light flashed before his closed lids and Anthy's soft, warm voice coaxed his mind to awaken, warmth was all around him and there was no pain. Even his breasts didn't hurt…his breasts didn't hurt…something seemed strange to her about that but she supposed it didn't matter. Opening her eyes to the dying rays of the sun dipping under the churning waves of the harbor, Ranma beheld the Rose Wall surrounding the campus proper.

"So this is Ohtori Academy? I didn't expect it to be so big!" Adjusting the red collar of her garnet boy's jacket, Ranma turned to her roommate-cum-lover Utena and eyed the sinuous curves of her woman, belonging body and soul to her love. Anthy stepped in line with them, dressed in the normal girl's uniform of blue skirt, white shirt, and red scarf, before gesturing for them to continue inside.

"It's big alright," Utena agreed. "Just big enough to lose yourself."


	11. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Utena crossover. Ranma and Utena both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

AN: I've gotten a lot of flak since the last chapter about Ranma being permanently female, I'll take this time to inform you that this is not the case and that he'll be getting nookie relatively frequently in both forms in later chapters. To those of you who swore never to read this fic anymore because of the latest plot development, give it a second chance. I know that I hate fics where he's permanently female and try never to write one where he's even locked but this one seemed to scream for such a development.

The Revolution

Chapter Nine

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

Juri Arisugawa strode confidently down the arched open corridor leading from the locker rooms to the main high school atrium. The sun reflected dimly off the cold marble walls rising high above and made the shadowed walkways between cold. She was just in the middle of looping her tassel through the pointed gold epaulet on her right shoulder when noises drew her eyes to the Rose Garden. There hadn't been anyone inside the high glass greenhouse since the Bride left, yet there were shadows moving against the thick layer of filth encrusting the windows.

She approached across the green stretching out from the wall of the athletic wing to the round gilded cage of the Rose Garden. Three figures moved through the veil of mildew and algae smeared across the thin squares of glass set into the antique brass framework. Two were relatively tall while the third was at least half a head shorter.

"I'll get the cleaning supplies from the janitor." A purple head poked out from the open door, decked out in a girl's middle school uniform, which Juri recognized as Anthy Himemiya. So the news wasn't fake at all, no, here she was standing before her, one hand on the doorframe the other thrust out before her. Juri felt a wavering in her head as a pink head of hair sprouted out of the greenhouse and kissed the dark-skinned beauty on the cheek. Utena Tenjou, she had returned from beyond the brink.

The girl she saw was a far cry from the girl she knew nearly a year ago, gone were the long straight tresses, replaced with short cropped hair smoothed back with a few bangs. She walked and stood differently as well, less assured of herself, less combative than Juri remembered. There was a time that she looked on Utena and felt a fire grow in her loins, a hunger growl up from the deepest pit of her stomach and possess her with the need to toss down the younger girl and ravish her on a bed of red satin. Even now she was dripping just from the mere sight of her and the weight of the leaden locket tucked between her breasts lifted for the briefest of instants. Utena soon noticed the woman watching them and the weight intensified.

"Ah, Himemiya, Tenjou, so very nice to see you again. We've missed you." The orange-haired woman stepped over the cobblestones with the distinctive clack of her leather soles tapping on stone before leaning casually against the doorframe. Her confidence felt shaken so close to the object of her affection. Her panties were moist and dripping down her thighs, it was a wonder she hadn't stained her pants. "Did you just get back?"

"I'll just go and see the janitor, then, Utena-sama." Anthy spared the Student Council Treasurer a slight glance before prancing into the building like a faun.

"Yes, just a few moments ago. Himemiya wanted to see how her roses were doing before we moved back in," Utena moved aside and allowed the third shadow to step outside into the light.

Ranma looked at the younger woman in front of her and was unimpressed. The girl had talent, firm, athletic thighs and decent muscle tone, but she was not a fighter in the same caliber as herself. A fencer, yes, probably one of the best, but not a fighter by any stretch of the imagination. She plastered a fake-looking smile on her face and extended a hand in greeting. "Ranma Saotome."

"Juri Arisugawa. A pleasure to meet you." They shook and the fencer could feel the strange short girl's grip. She was a powerful little girl. "Are you a freshmen in the junior high? I know you may want to dress like Utena here but I can't condone such an outfit."

The pigtailed girl's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm actually a freshman in the university, Arisugawa, and this is simply how I dress. I'm not trying to dress like anybody." She squeezed the girl's hand tighter and felt cartilage grind and joints crackle. Letting go, she gave the girl credit, she didn't broadcast how painful the handshake had been, nor did she try to rub her no-doubt sore knuckles.

"I…see." The little bitch was strong, strong as any man she'd ever met. "I apologize, I didn't know."

Smiling, Ranma nodded. "Accepted."

Juri seethed at the short woman's casual manner in so thoroughly humiliating her and clenched her sore hand into a fist. "Are you a friend of Tenjou's?"

"Her girlfriend, really. We've been living together for the past year." Utena rolled her eyes at Ranma's display, strangely angry that the school hadn't taken away his pride with his manhood. At least a high degree of his chauvinism was gone; he hadn't complained about being a girl once since they arrived. Hopefully Anthy had some way of restoring his male form, she really couldn't stand giving oral and sex with a dildo was never as satisfying than with the real thing.

Juri canted to the side and felt her knees weaken. Utena? Having a lesbian affair with this hotheaded redhead? She imagined the now short-haired girl diving down into the smaller woman's hairy crotch, pearly white teeth disappearing into thick patches of coarse pubic hair matted down by feminine secretions and sweat, the tangy smell of passion and musk, the way their bodies would intertwine in-

"Juri? Are you alright?" Utena reached out and gently shook the older girl's shoulder. She didn't miss the way Juri moved into her touch. "Your face is a little red."

"Fine…I'm fine, I just remembered that I have to go and practice with Miki for the Regionals." Her legs were trembling and her voice wobbled in the middle of her throat like some kind of lovesick simpleton, she never used to be like this, why was she starting now? The melty feeling in her loins began to ebb ever so slightly and she thought she could at least stand on her own now. Straightening, she brought her legs together primly in order to hide the way her thighs quivered and brushed the front of her jacket. "If you will excuse me."

"Wait!" Ranma whirled around the doorframe of the greenhouse and stepped lightly before the tall girl again. A teasing grin shown on her face, she laid a hand on Juri's shoulder nearer her neck from the epaulet and pinched her gently. The taller girl stopped where she was and stared hard into the impertinent woman's eyes. How dare she lay a hand upon her?

"What is it," she asked, trying to reign in the feelings of utter slaughter she felt growing within. "I have to get to practice."

"I just wanted to join the fencing team is all, could you show me the ropes?" Utena rolled her eyes at Ranma's display, already realizing that the change had made the redhead a whole lot more coquettish and subtle.

Juri looked the girl, no, woman, up and down, paying careful attention to the generous swell of her breasts against the dark blue of her non-regulation uniform. She cut a pretty picture, and had already shown she practiced an alternative lifestyle similar to her own…and she really couldn't argue with a body like that; already hot and bothered by the reappearance of Tenjou, she made the decision out of sexual desire, not logical thought.

"Sure. Why don't you walk with me to the locker rooms and I'll find you a practice uniform." She continued to walk across the green before turned back towards the athletic building. Sure, she'd just been training with the team but she could handle one newbie however strong they might be, and hopefully grab some relief along the way. "This way."

"Of course, Arisugawa-san." Ranma could smell the arousal on the girl, a heady, thick musk that seemed to tantalize her senses. She couldn't wait to see the orange-haired goddess stripped bare in the small confines of the locker-room where all manner of indecent 'accidents' could occur. She didn't doubt that Utena could take care of herself, and knew that she probably had other matters to attend to that didn't require a sidekick. Truly, she felt more free than she had in years, her thoughts flowed freely like water and her mind was awhirl with minor observations about the world around her, such as Juri's rapidly staining crotch sashaying a mere foot in front of her. It was hard to tell in the shadowed walkway but she could barely detect the damp patch riding up the crease of her buttocks.

Being female wasn't so bad, in fact, she couldn't even remember why she'd thought it bad in the first place, why had she? The form had several advantages and Anthy could probably change her back anyway so what was the problem? Hmm, she thought long and hard while following Juri past row after row of identical doors and could only assume that it wasn't important. She was here with Utena to help her, here to get a decent University education, why couldn't she have a little fun on the side?


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from any anime series found within this Ranma 1/2 – Utena crossover. Ranma and Utena both are licensed by Viz Media in America and are copyright their respective owners.

AN: I've gotten a lot of flak since the last chapter about Ranma being permanently female, I'll take this time to inform you that this is not the case and that he'll be getting nookie relatively frequently in both forms in later chapters. To those of you who swore never to read this fic anymore because of the latest plot development, give it a second chance. I know that I hate fics where he's permanently female and try never to write one where he's even locked but this one seemed to scream for such a development.

The Revolution

Chapter Twelve

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

Utena crossed the darkened and shadowed corridors between the middle and high schools with the gait of one pressed into an action they were not entirely sure about, like a man pointed towards a ravenous tiger with an olive fork. Why she had to do this was beyond her, she simply didn't understand why her old life needed so much closure – she didn't feel gypped or cheated, she just wanted to stay out of things and live her own life. It seemed, however, that Anthy would never let her have that peace.

Students milled about on the broad green lawns outside the junior high under the weighty shadow of the campus spire, the lofty peak from which Akio looked down at the insects inhabiting his personal farm. The whole idea disgusted her, the idea that Akio was still doing the same fiendish things all over again in a foolish attempt to covet something long since lost. No one said anything to her as she strode purposefully towards the Chairman's residence.

The entrance was as bare as it always had been that year since past, a loft lobby with nothing in it save a wrought-iron enclosed elevator. An enormous Rose Seal mosaic glistened in the dim light causing bile to rise in her throat. Her scars itched and she was just a little warm in a long-sleeve shirt and slacks. Scratching her shoulder as she waited for the elevator she didn't hear the click of hard leather soles on the pristine marble of the floor until a slim finger touched her arm.

"So you did come back, Tenjou-san." Miki Kaoru folded his arm around the leather valise in his left hand and offered his right. Utena found no reason not to shake his hand and so she did, feeling his grip grind against the soft cartilage of her knuckles. Miki grew up in the past year…well, perhaps that was a bit much. No, he hadn't grown any taller, nor had his voice cracked, there was just something vacant in his expression, as if he lacked the animating spark she'd gotten used to seeing behind his eyes. He smiled thinly as they broke off and pointed to the elevator. "Are you visiting Touga?"

"No. No, why would you think that?"

Miki lowered his head and shook it from side to side exaggeratedly. "The Chairman, then? You don't waste any time, do you?" He stepped beside her and waiting for her to turn back towards the elevator cage.

She didn't like this new Miki's attitude. He was different, bitter, just what the hell had happened in a single year to make them all act so strange. "Just what do you mean by that?"

"Word around campus was you were kicked out for having an illicit relationship with the then-acting Chairman." He looked up at the indicator. The lift was falling at an astonishing rate. "Of course we both know better."

"You'd better know better; you know what happened, don't you?" Utena waited until the metal platform finished settling before throwing aside the iron lattice and stepping inside. She pushed the penthouse button and waiting for Miki to board and select the Student Council chambers.

"I don't know the details but I think I have a fair idea what when on…not that I really know what you went through, that I can only guess." The doors closed and the elevator began to rise, the clear blue sky filtering in through the glass panel peeking out of the shaft. "You fought and lost the duel named Revolution, that was what End of the World told us in the letters the next day. They simply stated that the duelist Utena Tenjou failed to bring about the World Revolution and that the duels would resume in a month's time."

"Did they?" She didn't think it was possible without Himemiya but Akio did have some tricks up his sleeves for such occasions. Anthy had left before the duels began again, hadn't she? But then why would it have taken her a year to find her again? Tokyo wasn't so far away from here; did she just visit every two-bit town up and down the coast?

"No. Himemiya left the very next day and End of the World declared that another would become the Bride. We dueled for a little while but it proved to be a mistake." There was something unsaid in Miki's statement, a little hesitation Utena caught but wasn't sure if it was a normal pause or deliberate. "Kozue…was injured in a duel to become the Bride."

"I'm sorry, Miki, was she hurt badly?" It figured there wasn't anyone who had enough power to become the Bride except Anthy and maybe Dios, but that wasn't certain since no one had been able to free Dios since the beginning of time.

"Her pride was hurt more than she was…she was trying so hard as well but End of the World declared the duel void and we lost it all. After that there were no more duels, we didn't even receive any letters until yesterday." Miki flipped open the tongue on his valise and handed her a small cream-colored envelope stinking with the cloying sweetness of Roses. Utena didn't take it from him. He seemed to understand and replaced the valise by his side. "They didn't say much, the letters, only that you and Himemiya would be returning today with a University student and that the duels would resume soon."

Utena looked up and realized that they were just reaching the Student Council room. She held her tongue until they arrived and the doors opened. Miki stepped out and looked back expectantly. "I won't be dueling this time. You and the others can have the power to revolutionize the World…for what good it'll do you."

"Is that a hint of bitterness I detect in your voice, Tenjou-san? One of us will revolutionize the World this year, of that I can assure you."

Utena rolled her eyes and wondered if Miki had always been like this and she hadn't noticed, or if this was a new thing. It was tiresome in any case. "You can try, Miki, but I'll warn you just this once: think twice before you duel. The Power to Revolutionize the World is not everything you think it is…at least not for us." With that the doors slowly slid shut on Miki's defiant face with the muted click of well-greased gears. Now, onward and upward to the showdown...

Miki watched the elevator continue up the shaft and shook his head. She really didn't have any idea why any of them dueled, did she? He knew that none of them were truly fighting for the world revolution; they were all just fighting to see their own petty dreams come true. Even Tsuwabuki was getting wrapped into the insane mess that was the Dueling Game. The idea of young Tsuwabuki fighting against Touga or Juri chilled his blood. He could do it to if the occasion called for it, any duelist could summon the power to defeat even an opponent of superior strength once – the trick was to win consistently and thus far only Utena Tenjou had succeeded.

Nanami was sitting primly beside her brother at the table on the prow, gazing with adoring eyes as Touga silently read a book of Showa-era erotica. How someone could be so devoted to another was beyond him…sure he felt strongly for Kozue's wellbeing but he didn't follow her around like a puppy dog, he trusted that no matter how bad her decisions that she could handle the consequences.

"Was that Utena Tenjou you were riding up with? She's really returned?" Touga lowered the brown leather-bound booklet of Seventies smut below his eyes and pierced Miki with a glance.

"Yes. I believe she was going to visit the Chairman." He knew how the President felt about Tenjou and watched his impassive face for any clue to betray those feelings. To his dismay, but not surprise, the redhead gave no sign of any care either way. Instead he raised his book once again and leaned backward to block the errant rays of the sun. Beside him, Nanami was stretched in an impossible position trying to watch his face. Miki sat across from the Student Council President and opened his valise. "Tenjou-san did not receive a letter from End of the World and expressed no interest at all in dueling. Do you think she will really give up?"

"Failure does not sit well with some people. Perhaps she thinks that she will never win the final duel and so does not pursue a dead-end? No, she's not that kind of girl." Touga shut the book and tossed it lightly on the wrought-iron tabletop.

"Ni-sama, please tell me you're not going to pursue that tart again?" Nanami poured him a cup of tea from the pot in the centre of the table and took hold of his arm. "You remember what she did to you last time? Please promise me you won't try to press that awful girl!" Crocodile tears began to dribble down the puffy, rounded hemispheres of her cheeks and Miki fought not to gag at the disgusting display.

Touga crossed his legs and reclined with his right elbow on the back of his chair, his left taking the teacup and saucer from Nanami's hands gently. "I must do what my heart tells me, Nanami, you must know how that feels, don't you?"

"Of course, Ni-sama, but you don't need to chase after that harlot like a common boy, surely you can find a girl of similar social standing and class."

Touga sipped his tea and looked her directly in the eyes. "You mean someone like you?"

Miki clicked his stopwatch and jotted down the numbers in his ledger. He wasn't going to get involved with the Kiryu family debacle. Nanami had turned absolutely white and froze in place with the teapot in her hand. He could tell the shock of Touga's words had temporarily stopped her brain.

"Just kidding." Touga finished his tea and set the saucer down beside his book with nary a glance at Nanami's frozen expression of shock and embarrassment. "I have to go now, Miki, tell Juri to call me on my cell phone when she finally arrives. I can't be here forever you know, important Student Council business…"

"Kaori said that she had an emergency swim team practice and she wouldn't be able to make your rendezvous." Miki folded the note from Kaori Sugiyama, one of Touga's many girls, and reminded himself to throw it out on his way out. "She wants to know if you're free tomorrow."

Touga's face fell and he reclined back into his seat, the wry, aloof smile plastered over his face once again. "Ah well, I suppose I can spend a little more time waiting for Juri. Tomorrow's pretty full, I think I do have time on Friday, though, let her know will you?"

Miki resented being treated as a gofer for Touga but was powerless to do anything about it given Touga's position. It wasn't like he wanted to scream and rant at Touga but the irritation was steadily mounting. "Sure. I'll stop by her room on the way home today."

"Excellent. So tell me how Tenjou was doing…"


End file.
